Candace Calvert Interview

Q: How long have you been writing and what other careers or jobs have you had?  

A.  I was once a fish and chips waitress (British flag apron, embarrassing pouf bonnet), a salesgirl at a trendy fashion boutique, and then spent two very interesting decades as an ER nurse. I began writing (with the goal of selling a novel) in around 2001.

Q: Do you write in only one genre and if so which one and why? If not, which ones and why?

A:  I write Christian romance, in a growing sub-genre that I helped to pioneer: inspirational medical fiction. People often say that I’m the author of “medical hope opera.” I think that fits nicely.

Q: How does your faith play into your writing? 

A. I like to think that faith is organic to my stories. I first proposed the idea of inspirational medical fiction because of my disappointment that popular TV hospital shows rarely addressed issues of faith. As a nurse, I saw countless prayers sent heavenward by patients, family, and hospital staff alike. I vowed to “help Grey’s Anatomy find its soul.”

Q: How do you choose your settings for your books?

A. I chose my native northern California as the setting for the Mercy Hospital series (gold country, the Pacific coast, and San Francisco). The Grace Medical stories unfold in Texas (San Antonio, Austin, and Houston), because we lived in the Lone Star State for several years. I use imagery to “put the reader into the scenes” in these colorful places, right down to lip-smacking tastes of local food.

Q: Do you base your characters on people you know or are they totally made up?

A: My characters are generally composites of people I’ve known, borrowed bits and pieces put together like a Potato Head game—although I aim for something far more memorable! Recently, however, I did use a real person as a minor character in a story.  In Trauma Plan, the heroine’s next door neighbor (Wilma) is one of my readers! Yes, this dear lady accepted my offer to cast her in the role, right down to using her first name and a family dog, “Oreo.”  A delight for both of us.

Q: Would you tell us about your current book release Rescue Team? 

A: The back cover copy does that well:

Tired of running from her past, nurse Kate Callison intends to become Austin Grace Hospital’s permanent ER director and make Texas her home. Despite staff friction, she’s moving ahead. Then unthinkable tragedy wraps the ER in crime tape, brings swarms of media, legal chaos . . . and a search-and-rescue hero who seems determined to meddle in her life.
               For Wes Tanner, nothing beats finding someone who’s lost; he’s known that helpless terror firsthand. That’s why he’s determined to extend a lifeline of hope to others as a search-and-rescue volunteer. He’s ready for anything—except Austin Grace’s prickly and dismissive ER director.
                As Kate and Wes discover more about each other, new respect becomes something deeper. Kate wonders if her heart might finally have found a home. But when a startling missing person’s case unearths secrets and opens old wounds, she fears that all they’ve found will just as quickly be lost.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for Rescue Team?

A: I’m intrigued by ordinary citizens who step up as incredible heroes when crisis calls. I think search & rescue volunteers are a perfect example. I also loved the layered meanings of “lost and found,” and how that might apply physically and spiritually too—as in the wonderful song, Amazing Grace: “I once was lost but now am found.”

Q: What is the main thing you hope readers remember from this story?

A: That despite mistakes, regrets, and painful losses, we are never truly lost—God’s beautiful grace and promise of hope is our lifeline.

Q: Tell us what you like about the main characters of this book.

A: I like Wes Tanner’s dedication to search and rescue, his warm humor, devotion to family, and that he’d take the time for an impromptu tea party with an Alzheimer’s victim and her beloved plastic doll. His gorgeous blue eyes aren’t so bad either. 

I like that nurse Kate Callison, beneath her independent, “prickly” exterior, yearns for love, acceptance, and hope. It’s so universally human.

Q: Would you share with us what you are working on now?  

A. I’m doing revisions/edits for First Responder, the final Grace Medical story. And writing a proposal for an exciting new medical series.

Q: If money were no object what vacation would you like to take and why?  

A. We’ve been fortunate to take some amazing vacations and, in fact, are planning a fall Rhine River cruise that begins in Basel, Switzerland and sails to Amsterdam. Sounds so romantic! If money were no object, I’d rent a villa outside Florence, Italy, and bring the family over. I’d love to give the grandchildren a taste of history, music, art—and the wonderful food that Grandma CeCe would cook from the bounty of local markets. Italian apron time, oh yeah!

Q: What is the silliest thing you have ever done?  

A. I dressed as Wonder Woman for my son’s pre-school Super Hero Day. The whole outfit: red boots, gold bracelets, star-spangled leotard and headpiece. I conned a hospital respiratory therapist into dressing as Superman. As we crossed the parking lot toward the school, a parked car began rolling backward—the brake hadn’t been set. Superman, cape flying, and Wonder Woman gave chase and saved the day. You should have seen the double-takes of drivers on the adjacent street! And all the little the noses pressed to the windows of the pre-school. They were sure we were the real deal.

Q: What is the hardest thing you have ever done? 

A. I had to cope with the unexpected breakup of my first marriage. But as a result of that painful loss, my faith was reborn, I found new joy, a second chance at love, and my writing career! Lost, found. See? God’s lifeline of hope.

Q: Where can readers find you on the internet? 

A. My website

     Facebook page

    Twitter

Q: Anything else you’d like to tell or share with us?  

A.  I invite you all to stop by my new blog, Authors’ Galley: Manuscripts & Wooden Spoons, where you’ll find food talk, recipes, book snippets, giveaways, and glimpses into guest authors’ kitchens. C’mon by!